The great majority of conventional sailing vessels have a single mast which extends up the forward side of the mainsail substantially midway of the length of the boat. A forestay runs from the top of the mast to the bow of the boat and the jib runs aft of the forestay. Both the jib and the mainsail extend from the deck or cabin top to the masthead.
Such a conventional vessel, however, suffers certain disadvantages inherent in the design. One disadvantage is that because the mast is located on the luff or forward side of the mainsail, the airflow over the mainsail is disrupted which reduces the efficiency of the said and, therefore, unnecessarily reduces the speed of the boat. A further disadvantage lies in the structure of the mast itself which, because of the large side loading in addition to the compression loading caused by the wind loading on the sails, can break and result in dismasting of the vessel. Yet a further disadvantage results from the use of the stays which extend from the top to the mast to the gunwales on opposite sides of the boat. These stays can cause damage to a jib or genoa and interfere with access and vessel operation. Yet a further disadvantage is that the mainmast on a conventional vessel is difficult to remove even where design efforts have been directed towards facilitating that operation. When the mast is eventually removed, it will ordinarily extend along the longitudinal axis of the boat which makes access to the cabin difficult. The raising and lowering operation, further, is also time consuming and tedious. Such boats, therefore, are also inherently troublesome when used in trailer boating.
Yet a further disadvantage with conventional sailing vessels relates to the lack of convenient adjustment of the angle of the mast for various wind and sea conditions. It is known that the most efficient mast position for maximum performance and stability varies according to these conditions and most conventional sailing vessels lack any convenient adjustment to compensate for or to take advantage of such changing conditions.
Present mounting for outboard engines in sailing vessels or powerboats comprises, generally, two principal methods. A first method teaches mounting the motor in a well within the vessel. This method requires a hole to be cut in the hull into which the motor is mounted. The disadvantages inherent in such mounting are clear and include the loss of interior space in the vessel, the objectional and dangerous concentration of engine fumes in the cockpit, the reduced performance of the vessel under sail because of the drag caused by the well mounted engine and the fact that the engine must be removed from the well to beach or trailer the boat.
A second method teaches mounting the engine on a vertically sliding or cantilever type bracket on the transom, the bracket being mounted so as to provide sufficient space to allow for kick-up of the engine without striking the transom if an obstacle or foreign debris is encountered. It is difficult to mount the engine in the centre of the transom on a sailing vessel, however, which is desirable for static and dynamic balance of the vessel, because of the resulting interference with the rudder assembly. Side mounting of the engine can result in immersion of the engine because a sailing vessel can heel well up to forty-five (45) degrees in operation. Such potential immersion creates the necessity to raise the engine under sail which can be tedious, difficult and dangerous.
A further type of engine mount used on powerboats teaches a centrally mounted bracket which may or may not be vertically slidable and which provides a variable tilt angle to the engine for raising the motor from the water when desired and for trimming the tilt angle when the motor is operating for maximum efficiency. Such an engine mount, however, requires the engine to be mounted closely adjacent to the transom of the vessel which requires the propellor to operate in water which contains air bubbles leading to propellor cavitation and consequent loss of performance from the vessel.
Yet a further type of engine mount is a cantilever type bracket extending rearwardly from the vessel with the motor mounted to the end of the bracket. Such a bracket allows the engine to be moved rearwardly to a position where there are fewer air bubbles in the water but access to the engine is difficult because of its distance from the boat and there is, of course, no adjustment available in the longitudinal distance between the engine and the transom.